The 9th tournament of the year is usually when players start eyeing up where they are in the standings.  As most RPTers know, the regular season of monthly tournaments is only a means to the ultimate end: get to the Final Table.  We had 15 RPTers show up.  As is typical, every year starts with larger tournaments and ends with smaller tournaments with the most dedicated players.  C’est la vie.

 

 

A genuine thanks to Grover for hosting the September tournament.  It is easily one of my favorite places to play poker due to its location, amenities, and overall atmosphere.  Grover takes pride in his hospitality and it is always appreciated.

 

 

Now – on with the results.  Generally, I get these write-ups out pretty quickly when I do well in a tournament…  Turns out I also get them out quickly when I do phenomenally poorly in a tournament.  Yes friends, these words are written by the Beer Bitch of the September 2013 RPT Tournament.  Gasp you should for it is a rare moment in time to see the current #1 ranked RPTer get cut down so unceremoniously.  How did it happen?  Painfully…  but I will muster the strength to regale the tale.

 

 

I am big blind with 3 callers in front of me.  I have As-10s suited.  Blinds are still 15-30.  This could be interesting.  I decide a slow play could provide the most profit.  The check.  The flop comes A-A-7.  Life is good.  I check to see where I am.  The table checks.  Turn card: 8.  Could be some weird straight draw out there but there are no flush draws.  I check.  Angie checks.  Rob bets a small amount at the pot appearing like Rob trying to see if his aggression or pair of 8’s is good enough.  Wally folds.  I call.  Angie calls.  River: 9.  This could mean a straight has been hit but odds seem low.  I check.  Angie checks.  Rob bets 75.  I decide it is time to push. I raise to 300.  Rob postures as he is wont to do and then pushes all in.  At this moment, I thought I know he has an A…  but I am thinking it is A and something low like a 5.  I am thinking I am out kicking him with my 10.  If he had A-J, etc., he would have raised pre-flop.  I decide this is a moment I am going to risk.  I call.  Rob shows A-7.  He flopped a boat beating my trip A’s.  We had been slow playing each other.  Dagger.  And to make it more awesome: we have the exact same number of chips.  I am out.  Well played Rob.  This is my 2nd Beer Bitch finish and the first since 6/24/2005…  So it has been a while.

 

 

With me out, the rest of the field was poised to gain some ground in the RPT standings.  Early on, Rob was a buzzsaw and knocked out the first three players to amount a very large chipstack.  Angie was the 2nd victim and then Trueman came late just to get knocked out by Rob in very short order.  Our table was a bit of  shark tank with people getting booted in regular intervals.  On the other table, the first player out was our own Voldemort getting knocked out by FedEx.  There are very few instances in life where a piece of paper has this type of information:

 

Name: Voldemort (with signature)

Killed by: FedEx

 

Only at the RPT…  Wally out was next.  Good luck with your ankle surgery Wally and get well soon.  By now, the recently deceased players were hankering for a cash game and the tournament needed only one more player to get knocked out before we could get our own table.  Trueman and I could smell the scent of death emanating from Grover and his tiny chip stack.  We hovered over him like vultures waiting for him to drop…  but we would have to wait.  In pure Grover fashion, he started hitting monster hands.  The first (when he was all-in with 45 chips) was reminiscent of the hand he won with last month:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grover goes all in with Qh-Js against Little Slick Ac-Kh.  Preflop, Grover has a 34.93% chance of winning this hand.  The flop brings two spades which gives Grover a 25% chance of winning and a 5% chance of splitting the pot.  The Turn is a 10s giving Grover a flush draw and increasing his win percentage all the way up to 31.82%…  and the River is a 4s giving Grover his flush with 4 spades on the board.  All I can say is WTL – What the luck?

 

 

Grover had a hand much like the last soon thereafter.  I dont remember the back and forth of the hand but the picture below should tell the tale.  Grover flopped two pair, got a boat on the Turn, and quads on the River.  That is the type of hand you want to have all the time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A man like Grover however cannot get by on luck forever and pretty soon, he was out and ready for some cash game action.  Nita was out immediately following Grover.  It was good to see Nita walking around after her recent ankle surgery.  She has put up some points over the year and, if she keeps it up, can earn a spot at the final table.  As for this month’s final table, it consisted of: FedEx, Norma, Brian Harnish, Brian Bennett, Tony Huckestein, Glenn, Gene, and Rob the Buzzsaw.

 

 

As I was playing (losing money) as the cash table, I dont have many details to provide on the final table action.  Tony was first out followed by Brian Bennett.  Norma was knocked out by her loving husband Gene…  he was probably just calling the obvious bluff.  The Buzzsaw Rob was taken out by Glenn after having his massive chip stack slowly deplete after his initial start.  Rob’s performance did move him up to #1 in the current RPT standings.  I will have to work to regain my placement.  FedEx finished 4th and on the bubble.  He too made some ground in the standings – moving up to 7th overall.

 

 

The final 3 players were Harnish, Glenn, and Gene.  Gene is a long time RPTer and it was good to see him and Norma back.  When they are in town from Florida, they make it a point to stop by for some cards and it is always a pleasure.

 

Harnish finished third overall as he had a pretty small stack by the time the final 3 were decided.  It was his 2nd Top 3 finish of the year and a good rebound from last month’s Beer Bitch finish.

 

Heads up action came down to Glenn and Gene.  Glenn had a ridiculous chip count which I would say was 80% of the chips to Gene’s 20%.  Gene and Glenn fired back and forth at each other.  It was excellent heads-up poker with plenty of action.  One of the highlights included a straight flush by Gene.  Gene tried to get as much money as he could from it but Glenn didnt bite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After probably 20 minutes of back and forth action, Glenn finally got the last chip and was the 2013 September RPT winner.  Gene finished 2nd and it was his first Top 3 finish since 11/19/10 when he finished 2nd as well.

 

 

Congratulations to Glenn.  This is his 3rd RPT victory of the year which is an impressive feat though I will note that it has been at 3 smallest tournaments of the year with 17,12, and 15 players respectively….  did I mention that I won the largest tournament of the year with 30 people?  Just saying.  Glenn has moved up to tied with 4th with Nita in the RPT standings and is also the leader in RPUs which is a great thing to be.  Glen now has 4 victories all time and is in a multi-way tie for 4th in the RPT all-time standings.  Glen also moves up to 2nd in the all-time kills per tournament metric as he knocks out 1.72 players per tournament behind only Voldemort with 1.85.  Glen also averages 76.11 RPUs per tournament which is again only behind Voldemort who averages 76.75.

 

And after the tournament, we did what we always do and french braided each other’s hair:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are only 2 more tournaments left in the year.  Looking forward to seeing everyone next month as we are in the finish stretch in the race for the Final Table.